North country expects more snow

Lake-effect snow on Tuesday night through Wednesday caused delays at Fort Drum, canceled after-school practice for high school athletes and created hazardous driving conditions on the first day of spring.

According to spotter reports from the National Weather Service, Lorraine had received 10 inches of snow by 7 a.m. Wednesday. Theresa received a little more than an inch.

In Lewis County, Highmarket had 12.3 inches recorded at 3 a.m. the same day.

Ogdensburg received 4 inches of snow by 7 a.m.

Were still expecting a chance of snow through Friday, said Kimberly McMahon, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Burlington, Vt. Whats occurring now is lake-effect, but a low-pressure system moving off the New England coast will retrograde into the St. Lawrence Valley.

Although the snow and wind stopped in Watertown on Wednesday afternoon, the city school district still decided to cancel after-school activities. Like the Indian River Central School District, the Watertown district canceled after-school activities Tuesday ahead of the storm.

Our meteorological service told us the snow might be intense after 7 p.m., Watertown City School District Superintendent Terry N. Fralick said.

He said the first-grade concert at Knickerbocker Elementary School and the second-grade concert at Ohio Elementary School will be rescheduled.

We have to respond to these predictions, Mr. Fralick said.

He said that if the snow ends up not coming, Mother Nature would be playing another trick on us.

On Fort Drum, operations were delayed for two hours Tuesday as the post dealt with the snow without its large group of seasonal employees. The last day for the approximately 120 temporary workers, who supplement the posts 20 road crew members, was March 9.

Its quite a diminished capacity when they drop off the roads, said James W. Corriveau, the posts director of public works.

Mr. Corriveau said that in addition to roads, a high priority for Wednesday morning was clearing the parking area for medical and child-care facilities. The temporary crews were hired this season at a staggered pace from Oct. 22 to early January, a standard procedure for the post.

Route 177 in Lewis County was closed by the state Department of Transportation for a couple of hours Wednesday afternoon because of storm-related problems.

Several vehicles, including a tractor-trailer near the Jefferson County line, went off the road Wednesday morning, and blowing snow made clearing the accident scenes and travel difficult, DOT spokesman Michael R. Flick said.

The road was closed at noon and reopened about 2 p.m.

The Lewis County Sheriffs Department also issued a travel advisory late Tuesday that remained in effect for much of the day Wednesday.

However, no serious weather-related incidents were reported as of midafternoon Wednesday, according to Lewis County Undersheriff James M. Monnat.

Times staff writers Gordon Block and Steve Virkler contributed to this report.

Commenting rules:

Stick to the topic of the article/letter/editorial.

When responding to issues raised by other commenters, do not engage in personal attacks or name-calling.

Comments that include profanity/obscenities or are libelous in nature will be removed without warning.

Violators' commenting privileges may be revoked indefinitely. By commenting you agree to our full Terms of Use.